Barishal board falls from HSC top to bottom in three years
More than half of examinees fail, with Humanities accounting for nearly 70% of the increase in failures
The Barishal Education Board, which recorded the highest pass rate in the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations three years ago, has fallen to the bottom this year, with more than half of its examinees failing.
The board's pass rate dropped to 44.84 percent this year from 80.65 percent in 2023, a decline of 35.81 percentage points, according to an analysis of official results.
Barishal recorded a pass rate of 81.85 percent in 2024, the second highest among the nine general education boards. It retained the second position last year with 62.57 percent before slipping to the lowest this year.
Of the 57,912 students who appeared under the board this year, 25,970 passed.
The number of unsuccessful candidates increased by 9,769 from 22,173 last year, although 1,327 fewer students appeared for the examinations.
The sharpest increase in failures came from Humanities.
Of the 40,488 Humanities examinees, 23,505 failed this year, compared with 16,674 last year. The group accounted for nearly 70 percent of the increase in failures under the board. Its pass rate fell to 41.95 percent from 60.21 percent last year.
Business Studies recorded a pass rate of 40.28 percent, down from 62.04 percent, while Science posted 56.78 percent, compared with 71.58 percent last year.
Subject-wise results also showed a sharp decline in English, with the pass rate falling to 54.08 percent from 75.16 percent last year.
Girls considerably outperformed boys, recording a pass rate of 52.97 percent against 35.38 percent.
District-wise results showed that only Pirojpur recorded a pass rate above 50 percent, at 51.55 percent.
Jhalakathi had the lowest pass rate at 37.09 percent, followed by Patuakhali at 38.51 percent and Bhola at 39.54 percent.
The results also showed that no student passed from 11 institutions under the board, while only three institutions achieved a 100 percent pass rate.
Across the nine general education boards, the combined pass rate stood at 51.62 percent, down from 57.12 percent last year.
